INFO ABOUT THE LAND

DISCLAIMER
The land of Tir-Alyn borrows heavily and unapologetically from Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk of both AD&D and 3rd Edition. I use published material for inspiration, names, politics, and possibilities. If either in game or on this site you see a place or name or event that's also found in printed material somewhere, it may be an outright copy, contain similarities, or similar is name only. Much of Tir-Alyn and surrounding areas are unique creations, and even the inclusion of pre-existing material with its changes and altered interrelation makes for, I hope, a gestalt that's mostly original. And will become even more so as the characters interact with it.

What's presented here is also only what the characters know or should know. It will grow and change as the characters learn more, and as I add things I feel the characters would or should likely know. It's certainly not 100% inclusive--but what IS here will be accurate to the best of the character's knowledge. Information that may seem beyond the character's knowledge is there to give the players a better idea of environment and place, and may be chalked up to myth or rumor the characters might have once heard.

About The Maps
The maps found to the left represent for the most part what the characters (or players at least) already know. It may be based on actual maps the characters happen to own, or from knowledge or experience.
In most cases bare areas on a map may actually be bare, or may represent what the characters don't know. For example, the Known Lands map shows a rough sketch of what is known of their world. It's based on maps the characters have, have seen, or have heard about. The sparseness of East Tir, or Tir-Alyn' gar represents the fact it's a lesser known area than the West side or the Rel.

OVERVIEW
Geography
Tir-Alyn is the great split continent that forms the largest section of known land on the planet. It's capped to the north by huge glacier sheets and flowing islands of ice. Far to the east Tir-Alyn stops at the waters of the Black Ocean. (Any ship that has tried to sail beyond the horizon as seen from the coast has never come back.) To the south the Boarder Peaks, or Kor Jerai in the language of the plateau elves that populate that area, line the edge of the continent. Beyond is the H'Nath Sea which serves as a buffer between Tir-Alyn and the second largest known continent to the south, Tir-Surra. The native peoples of Tir-Surra call their home continent Behsala. The H'Nath apexes sharply, forming the Great Rift river, or the Rel (a bastardization of the original name that's strangely not known to even native speakers of the Old Tongue,) which cuts Tir-Alyn vertically from bottom almost to the top. It may very well cut the land completely but ice to the far north covers the terminus. The halves of Tir-Alyn are usually referred to as West Tir but more properly as Tir-Alyn'fe, and East Tir or Tir-Alyn'gar. Tir-Alyn ends to the west at the Uh-Demur, or Ocean Home as it translates. Much of the geography in West Tir and the southern lands are still referred to by their native names in Old Tongue, or Ghel--the language spoken by the people who lived there many many centuries ago. The language is still spoken by many people in West Tir and in the south, but it's the native language of very few. Far beyond Uh-Demur is a barely explored coastline of perhaps another continent. It's being called "Lastland" in Tir-Alyn, though no "official" name has yet been given to it. The native people that have been encountered are various and have different names for their home land. Between Lastland and Tir-Alyn is a line of islands known as Orin's Shield. There are various stories about the origin of this massive archipelago and it's namesake. 

People & Realms
Most of the population of Tir-Alyn is human. To the south within the Boarder Peaks are tribes of elves who live on the mountains called Plateau Elves. They're very reclusive, but are known to be welcoming and friendly to strangers. By contrast, the Gar Elves, or the race of elves that populate East Tir, are also reclusive but very suspicious of other races. While East Tir is their home, there are some that have come to live on the west half. Woods elves are native to West Tir. While closer in descent to fairy folk than either Gar or Plateau Elves, they're somewhat less suspicious of other races and have known to live closer to men than the other two.
Dwarven peoples come mainly from the north. Many centuries ago they lived exclusively in the mountains in the north lands, but the moving glaciers have forced them more into the center. They're quite friendly and comfortable with the humans who's generations have lived in the northern foothills. And their relations with men elsewhere aren't much worse.
Halflings are also more populace, is few in number as they are anyway, in East Tir. They very infrequently venture beyond their homelands, though those who have are also comfortable with humans, if a bit mystified by then yet.
The most populated area is the West Coast. It boasts of a few cities, though with the exception of Hornhead these places are on the small side of the term. Relgow on the edge of the Rel is also quite large as it's the main trade center between the two Tir's. Carrefor, the Crown capital of the Kingdom of the same name, can also be considered large. There are rumors of larger and grander cities to the south in Tir-Surra. 
As a whole, Tir-Alyn's population is scattered and sparse. There may be some areas with a scattering of towns and villages near each other, but for the most part a person could travel for weeks in any direction of any cluster of villages and not encounter another human or demi-human. Town and village clusters have come to rely on each other for most of their trade and protection. While every barony, kingdom, march, or other large definite political entity contains at least one significant town, usually it's capital or seat of its leader, very few leaders control what might be called an armed force. Local militias are the norm.
Exceptions would include the Kingdom of Carrefor for one. Being the largest and most powerful of the kingdoms in West Tir, it has a regular army or both volunteers and conscripts. The bulk of the army is currently at its north-west border engaged in an protracted battles with Broken Land forces. The reasons for which are barely known down in Feh Valley.
There are many small kingdoms, baronies, fiefdoms, principalities, and other controlled areas in both halves of Tir-Alyn. And many sections of land controlled by lords and dukes, as well as robber barons and thief-kings. Even so, there is no shortage of land uncontrolled by any man, dwarf, or elf. Some are barren of sentient creatures containing only animals and what might be called "monsters." Other areas are the home of barbarian tribes, orc tribes, goblins, and other unknowns. 

Ecology and Technology
The general technilogocal level of the lands of Tir-Alyn is low and generally agrarian. The majority of people living in the known lands live simple lives in small towns, villages, shires, and the like. There are a few large towns, especially on West Tir, and even a couple of what might be called cities. The level of technology is very low, at least by contemporary standards. While the larger towns may boast of things like water clocks and even a printing press, most towns are happy with their plows and windmills. From an extragame viewpoint, the level of advancement of Tir-Alyn is equivelant to about 10th century A.D. Earth. While some of the greatest technelogical advances of our planet do exist, such at the riding sturrup, the one or two crude printing presses, even a cotton gin, the land has been at this level for centuries and will likely remain this way for centuries and probably millennia more for two major reasons: a) Mundane chemical combustion is extremely limited, meaning nothing more volitile than kerosene and lamp oil will burn. No gunpowder--no firearms, no explosive pertol fumes--no internal combustion. b) The other reason for the modestly low tech level is something that must be found out during game play. The primary occupations of the bulk of humanity in the known lands is indeed farming, hunting, lumber, textiles. The larger towns and cities certainly have a wider variety of occupations. Artisans of all sorts are found everywhere. The demi-human races are somewhat different. The dwarven people import a good deal of foodstuffs from the humans, but export ore and metal/stone work and weapons. The elven races don't import, or export for that matter, anything of significant note--but even so, no human has seen an elven farmer. Halflings (a bit closer in appearance to 2nd ed. AD&D than 3rd ed.) are similar to humans in all ways with the exception of military or militia, which they have none of. They farm, hunt, craft, and have a very amicable relationship with humans, although they as well tend to live almost exclusively in their own communities.

Magic and the Gods
Yes, "devine" beings do exist, but have an almost non-existant direct role in the lives of humans. There are believers in different theologies and their patron gods, priests of said gods, and miracles in the name of the gods, but almost no one sees or speaks directly with any deity. And the thought of a deity coming down and walking the land in a physical form is almost considered laughable. Near universal certain belief in the devine is mostly due to the fact that indeed there ARE priests of different ethos capable of channeling the power of the devine day to day. That mixed with the extremely rare direct intervention of the gods themselves leads to the unfortunate side-effect that those who care to "worship" anything tend to worship the channeler over the god the priest is supposed to be serving. As for magic, most villiage and townsmen, while not unfamiliar with its existance, could possibly go their whole life without encountering a spell-caster. Stories are told of a wizard who's done this or that, or so-and-so's nephew having gone away to study the arcane arts, but actual mages and sorcerers tend to live solitary lives of study, lives of adventure or research of the arcane, or disappear altogether. It's not unheard of for a hedgewizard to live in a town, servicing the people with acts of divination, aid in difficult irrigation construction, protection from a goblin raid. But most who have an ability in magic, if they maintain rural lives, tend to stay only at the level of minor divination and herbology.

LOCAL INFO
The characters come from an area in the south-east section of Tir-Alyn'fe. An area with rolling hills and thick forests that rests between the low peaks of the upper Kor Jerai and the Rel to the east, and a small band of mountains to the west called Feh Ridge. The area is a collection of dales and shires that while technically are within the Kingdom of Carrefor, they're more or less self governed. The marshals, seneschals, and mayors are considered Court Officers, and taxes are collected annually, but rarely does the Court itself interfere with the goings on in this wide valley. It's been that way for a couple of generations at least, and some speculate it's because of the ongoing war far on the other side of the Kingdom, or the internal strife due to minor revolts and political issues, or both. The residents of the Feh Valley, as it's known by, don't really care much. Even though they have no bad feelings for the Crown, they're happy enough being left more or less alone by it.
The Feh Valley is prime farming and logging area. While there are a couple of mining towns within the the Feh Ridge and the Kor Jerai, including an a Dwarven town, most of the villages and towns between the ranges are on the valley floor. It can take several days to travel by foot from Kor Jerai to Feh Ridge, and so long as one stays away from the forests, there's little likelihood of encountering a creature with non-animalic intent. The thick patches of forest that spot the Valley contain a wide variety of denizens. Woods elves, fairy folk, and an assortment of less desirable creatures.
The hills and mountains on either side lend to a lot of natural caverns, with rumors of an underground complex running from Peaks to Ridge. Most of these caverns are bare or home to animals, but a few have been known to be occupied by other creatures. There's even been a recent increase in kobolds and goblins being spotted. Of course, not together.